ITB Business Travel Days: Business travel at a time of financial crisis

Business travel at a time of global financial and economic crisis: a new challenge facing an industry which, according to conservative estimates, guarantees employment for well over half a million people in Germany.

According to the latest findings of the Association of German Travel Management (VDR e.V.) in its 2008 Business Travel Analysis, half of all the expenditure in German hotels is accounted for by business travelers.

Current issues concerning business travel will form the focus of attention at the ITB Business Travel Forum from 11 to 13 March 2009, which is expected to attract everyone from juniors to business travel managers to participate in the exchange of information at this advanced training event in Berlin.

It is a significant economic factor for the travel industry as a whole and, for the past four years, the ITB Berlin has been providing a dedicated platform where newcomers to the industry, as well as experienced travel managers, can obtain information and expand their professional knowledge.

The Business Travel Forum will begin on Wednesday, 11 March 2009, with a Newcomers’ Day and two highly topical subjects. In his opening speech Prof. Dr. Friedrich Hubert Esser, Divisional Director for Vocational Training with the Main Association of the German Skilled Trades, Berlin, will talk on the subject of “Training in Times of (Financial) Crisis”.

Another prominent speaker, Ekkehard Goetting, Chairman & CEO of the German Economic Delegation in Hong Kong, will address a contentious issue under the heading of “Farewell Germany? Learning, living and working abroad”. The amendments that have been made to careers in travel, and the creation of a new professional qualification for mobility management, are of major importance to anyone entering the industry.

In the keynote speech of the Business Travel Executive Day/MICE on the Thursday at the ITB, Lutz I. Stammnitz, President Procurement, Mobility and Logistics, Siemens AG, Munich, and Business Travel Manager of the Year 2008 (TIC), will provoke a debate as to whether business travel management constitutes a “black box”.

For the first time MICE topics will form a separate component in the program of the Business Travel Forum. Under the heading of “Legal, illegal, or irrelevant? The problem of visas for business travel”, a panel of experts will discuss some frequently neglected issues associated with visas. Decision-makers can learn about “Event Guidelines” as well as taking part in the panel discussion “How good is Germany ’s position as a MICE destination”.

On the Thursday and Friday the VDR Academy is holding three practically based workshops in which staff involved with the operational aspects of business travel can learn important details about contracts with airlines, fiscal aspects of business travel and events, and the fundamentals of planning business trips.

The ITB Berlin 2009 will be taking place from Wednesday, 11 to Sunday, 15 March, and will be open to trade visitors from the Wednesday to the Friday. Parallel with the trade fair, the ITB Berlin Convention will be taking place from Wednesday, 11 to Saturday, 14 March 2009. The ITB Berlin Convention is the world’s largest travel industry convention. Last year some 100 events attracted more than 11,000 participants.